Chapter 22 Seascape Landscape Visual

REPORT

Millport Coastal Flood Protection Scheme: Environmental Statement

Chapter 22 Seascape, Landscape and Visual Impact

Assessment

Client:

North Ayrshire Council

Reference: PB4749-RHD-ZZ-XX-RP-Z-0022 Status: Date:
Final/P01.01 31 January 2020

P r o j e c t r e l a t e d

HASKONINGDHV UK LTD.

74/2 Commercial Quay
Commercial Street
Leith
Edinburgh EH6 6LX
Industry & Buildings
VAT registration number: 792428892

+44 131 5550506 T [email protected] E royalhaskoningdhv.com W

Document title: Millport Coastal Flood Protection Scheme: Environmental Statement

Document short title:

Reference: PB4749-RHD-ZZ-XX-RP-Z-0022
Status: P01.01/Final Date: 31 January 2020
Project name: Millport Coastal Flood Protection Scheme

Project number: PB4749

Author(s): David Stokoe Drafted by: David Stokoe

Checked by: Amy Savage

Date / initials: 23/01/2020 Approved by: Amy Savage Date / initials: 23/01/2020

Classification

Project related

Disclaimer

No part of these specifications/printed matter may be reproduced and/or published by print, photocopy, microfilm or by any other means, without the prior written permission of HaskoningDHV UK Ltd.; nor may they be used, without such permission, for any purposes other than that for which they were produced. HaskoningDHV UK Ltd. accepts no responsibility or liability for these specifications/printed matter to any party other than the persons by whom it was commissioned and as concluded under that Appointment. The integrated QHSE management system of HaskoningDHV UK Ltd. has been certified in accordance with ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018.

31 January 2020

PB4749-RHD-ZZ-XX-RP-Z-
0022 i

Table of Contents

22

Seascape, Landscape and Visual Impact

Introduction

1

22.1

22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.8 22.9
Policy, Legislation and Guidance Consultation
18

Methodology

11

21 28 54 57 58
Existing Environment Impact Assessment Summary of Effects Conclusions References

Table of Tables

Table 22-1 Summary of key international legislation and policy relevant to this proposed scheme
2

Table 22-2 Summary of key national legislation and policy relevant to this proposed scheme Table 22-3 Relevant local planning policies
25

Table 22-4 Consultation responses

8

Table 22-5 Landscape / Seascape Sensitivity and Magnitude Table 22-6 Visual Receptor Sensitivity and Magnitude Table 22-7 Evaluation of Landscape and Visual Effects Table 22-8 Viewpoint Locations
13 17 18 19 25 28
Table 22-9 Key Seascape / Landscape and Visual Characteristics Table 22-10 Consideration of Design Opportunities Table 22-11 Construction Effects (Landscape) of the Proposed Onshore Flood Protection Works
31

Table 22-12 Consideration of proposed scheme against key characteristics of the Millport CCA.
36

Table 22-13 Construction Effects (Visual) of the Proposed scheme Table 22-14 Viewpoint Analysis – Millburn Street Table 22-15 Viewpoint Analysis – Crichton Street Table 22-16 Viewpoint Analysis – Clyde Street Table 22-17 Viewpoint Analysis – Millport Pier Table 22-18 Viewpoint Analysis – Stuart Street
38 39 40 41 42 43

31 January 2020

0022 ii

Table 22-19 Viewpoint Analysis – Guildford Street

44

45 46 47 50 52 53 54
Table 22-20 Viewpoint Analysis – Glasgow Street Table 22-21 Viewpoint Analysis – Kelburn Street Table 22-22 Viewpoint Analysis – Farland Hill Table 22-23 Visual Effects on Views from Recreational Routes Table 22-24 Visual Effects on Recreational and Tourist Destinations Table 22-25 Visual Effects on Views from Ferry / Sailing Routes Table 22-26 Summary of seascape, landscape and visual effects

Table of Figures

Figure 22-1 Seascape, Landscape and Visual Study Area (2km) Figure 22-2 Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV) to 2km with Viewpoints Figure 22-3 Landscape and Seascape Character (2km) Figure 22-4 Landscape Planning Designations (2km) Figure 22-5 Recreational Routes and Key Tourist Destinations (2km) Figure 22-6 Viewpoint 1 Milburn Street Figure 22-7 Viewpoint 2 Chricton Street Figure 22-8 Viewpoint 3 Clyde Street Figure 22-9 Viewpoint 4 Millport Pier Figure 22-10 Viewpoint 5 Stuart Street Figure 22-11 Viewpoint 6 Guildford Street Figure 22-12 Viewpoint 7 Glasgow Street Figure 22-13 Viewpoint 8 Kelburn Street Figure 22-14 Viewpoint 9 Farland Hill

Appendices

Appendix 22.1 Landscape Design and Access Statement.

31 January 2020

0022 iii

Acronyms

Acronym

Acronym description

AOD AoV CLVIA EIA

Above Ordnance Datum Angle of View Cumulative Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment Environmental Impact Assessment Field of View

FoV NSA SNH ZTV

National Scenic Area Scottish Natural Heritage Zone of Theoretical Visibility

31 January 2020

0022 iv

Glossary

Glossary Term

Glossary Text

Cumulative effects

Additional changes caused by a proposed development in conjunction with other similar developments or as a combined effect of a set of developments, taken together’ (SNH, 2012)

Development*

Any proposal that results in change to the landscape and/or visual environment.

Degree of change

A combination of the scale, extent and duration of an effect also defined as ‘magnitude’.

Designated Landscape*

Areas of landscape identified as being of importance at international, national or local levels, either defined by statue or identified in development plans or other documents.

Elements*

Individual parts which make up the landscape, such as, for example, trees, hedges and buildings.

Enhancement* Environmental fit Environmental

Proposals that seek to improve the landscape resource of the site and its wider setting beyond its baseline condition.

The relationship of a development to identified environmental opportunities and constraints in its setting.

A statutory process by which certain planned projects must be assessed before a
Impact Assessment formal decision to proceed can be made. It involves the collection and

(EIA)

consideration of environmental information, which fulfils the assessment requirements of the EIA Directive and EIA Regulations, including the publication of an Environmental Statement.

Environmental Statement (ES)

A document reporting the findings of the EIA and produced in accordance with the EIA Directive as transposed into UK law by the EIA Regulations.

Feature*

Particularly prominent or eye-catching elements in the landscape such as tree clumps, church towers or wooded skylines OR a particular aspect of the project proposal.

Field of View

The horizontal angle of the view illustrated in a visualisation.

31 January 2020

PB4749-RHD-ZZ-XX-RP-Z-0022

v

Geographical

A system that captures, stores, analyses, manages and presents data linked to
Information System location. It links spatial information to a digital database.

(GIS) GLVIA 3

Heritage

Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Third Edition, published jointly by the Landscape Institute and Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, 2013.

The historic environment and especially valued assets and qualities such as historic buildings and cultural traditions.

Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC) and Historic Land-use

Historic characterisation is the identification and interpretation of the historic dimension of the present-day landscape or townscape within a given area. HLC is the term used in England and Wales, HLA is the term used in Scotland.

Assessment (HLA) Indirect effects*

Effects that result indirectly from the proposed project as a consequence of the direct effects, often occurring away from the site, or as a result of a sequence of interrelationships or a complex pathway. They may be separated by distance or in time from the source of the effects. Also used to describe indirect landscape effects concerning perceptual characteristics and qualities of the landscape and indirect visual effects in relation to issues such as ‘setting’.

Iterative design process

The process by which project design is amended and improved by successive stages of refinement which respond to growing understanding of environmental issues.

Key characteristics Land cover

Those combinations of elements which are particularly important to the current character of the landscape and help to give an area its particularly distinctive sense of place.

The surface cover of the land, usually expressed in terms of vegetation cover or lack of it. Related to but not the same as land use.

Landscape and Visual Impact

A tool used to identify and assess the likely significance of the effects of change resulting from development both on the landscape as an environmental resource in its own right and on people’s views and visual amenity.

Assessment (LVIA)

Landscape Character These are single unique areas which are the discrete geographical areas of a particular landscape type.

Area (LCA)*

31 January 2020

vi

Landscape Character The process of identifying and describing variation in the character of the landscape, and using this information to assist in managing change in the

Assessment

landscape. It seeks to identify and explain the unique combination of elements and features that make landscapes distinctive. The process results in the production of a Landscape Character Assessment.

Landscape Character These are distinct types of landscapes that are usually homogenous in character.
They are generic in nature in that they may occur in different areas in different

Types (LCTs)*

parts of the country, but wherever they occur they share broadly similar combinations of geology, topography, drainage patterns, vegetation and historical land use and settlement pattern, and perceptual and aesthetic attributes. (Topic Paper 6, Countryside Agency and SNH 2004)

Landscape capacity The ability of a landscape to accommodate different amounts of change or development of a specific type. Capacity reflects the landscape's sensitivity to the type of change, and the value attached to the landscape, and is therefore dependent on judgements about the desirability of retaining landscape characteristics and the acceptability of their loss.

(http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/looking-after- landscapes/landscape-resource-library/glossary-of-terms/).

Landscape character*

A distinct, recognisable and consistent pattern of elements in the landscape that makes one landscape different from another, rather than better or worse.

Landscape

A process of sorting the landscape into different types using selected criteria but without attaching relative values to different sorts of landscape.

classification Landscape constraints

Components of the landscape resource such as views or mature trees recognised as constraints to development. Often associated with landscape opportunities.

Landscape effects*

Effects on the landscape as a resource in its own right. An assessment of landscape effects deals with the effects of change and development on landscape as a resource. The concern here is with how the proposal will affect the elements that make up the landscape, the aesthetic and perceptual aspects of the landscape and its distinctive character. (GLVIA3 2013, Para 5.1).

Landscape fit

The relationship of a development to identified landscape opportunities and constraints in its setting.

Landscape patterns Spatial distributions of landscape elements combining to form patterns, which may be distinctive, recognisable and describable e.g. hedgerows and stream patterns.

31 January 2020

vii

Landscape quality (condition)*

A measure of the physical state of the landscape. It may include the extent to which typical character is represented in individual areas, the intactness of the landscape and the condition of individual elements.

Landscape qualities A term used to describe the aesthetic or perceptual and intangible characteristics of the landscape such as scenic quality, tranquillity, sense of wildness or remoteness. Cultural and artistic references may also be described here.

Landscape receptors Defined aspects of the landscape resource that have the potential to be affected by a proposal

*

Landscape resource The combination of elements that contribute to landscape context, character, and value.

Landscape sensitivity

The sensitivity of the landscape to a particular development considers the susceptibility of the landscape and its value.

Landscape strategy The overall vision and objectives for what the landscape should be like in the future, and what is thought to be desirable for a particular landscape type or area as a whole, usually expressed in formally adopted plans and programmes or related documents.

Landscape value* Level of effect

The relative value that is attached to different landscapes by society. A landscape may be valued by different stakeholders for a whole variety of reasons.

Determined through the combination of sensitivity of the receptor and the proposed magnitude of change brought about by the development.

Magnitude (of effect)*

A term that combines judgements about the size and scale of the effect, the extent of the area over which it occurs, whether it is reversible or irreversible and whether it is short term or long term in duration.

The scheme consists of offshore rock armour structures which will be built in the vicinity of the rock islets within Millport Bay. Onshore works will include flood walls, improvement works to existing coast protection structures, and works to raise the level of existing grass areas. Works on the foreshore include shoreconnected rock armour breakwaters and rock armour revetments.

Millport Coastal Flood Protection Scheme

Mitigation

Perception

Measures which are proposed to prevent, reduce and where possible offset any significant adverse effects (or to avoid, reduce and if possible remedy identified effects. (GLVIA3, 2013 Para 3.37).

Combines the sensory (that we receive through our senses) with the cognitive (our knowledge and understanding gained from many sources and experiences).

Perceptual Aspects A landscape may be valued for its perceptual qualities, notably wildness and/or tranquillity. (GLVIA3, 2013 Box 5.1)

31 January 2020

viii

Photomontage*

A visualisation which superimposes an image of the proposed development upon a photograph or series of photographs.

Positive or Negative The landscape effects may be positive, neutral, or negative.
In landscape terms – a positive effect would require development to add to the

Types of Landscape

landscape quality and character of an area. Neutral landscape effects would

Effect

include low or negligible changes that may be considered as part of the ‘normal’ landscape processes such as maintenance or harvesting activities. A negative effect may include the loss of landscape elements such as mature trees and hedgerows as part of construction leading to a reduction in the landscape quality and character of an area.

Positive or Negative The visual effects may be positive, neutral, or negative.

In visual terms – positive or negative effects are less easy to define or quantify

Types of Visual

and require a subjective consideration of a number of factors affecting the view,

Effect

which may be positive, neutral, or negative. It is not the assumption of this assessment that all change, including substantial levels of change is a negative experience. Rather this assessment has considered factors such as the visual composition of the landscape in the view together with the design and composition, which may or may not be reasonably, accommodated within the scale and character of the landscape as perceived from the receptor location.

Rarity

The presence of rare elements or features in the landscape or the presence of a rare Landscape Character Type. (GLVIA3 2013, Box 5.1)

Receptor

Physical landscape resource, special interest, or viewer group that will experience an effect.

Recreation Value*

Evidence that the landscape is valued for recreational activity where experience of the landscape is important. (GLVIA3 2013, Box 5.1)

Representativeness* Whether the landscape contains a particular character and/or features or elements which are considered particularly important examples.

Residual effects Scale Indicators

Potential environmental effects, remaining after mitigation. Landscape elements and features of a known or recognisable scale such as houses, trees, and vehicles that may be compared to other objects, where the scale of height is less familiar, to indicate their true scale.

Scenic quality Seascape

Depends upon perception and reflects the particular combination and pattern of elements in the landscape, its aesthetic qualities, its more intangible sense of place or ‘genius loci’ and other more intangible qualities. (GLVIA3 2013, Box 5.1)

Landscapes with views of the coast or seas, and coasts and adjacent marine environments with cultural, historical and archaeological links with each other.

31 January 2020

ix

Sense of Place (genius loci)

The essential character and spirit of an area: ‘genius loci’ literally means ‘spirit of the place’.

Sensitivity*

A term applied to specific receptors, combining judgements of the susceptibility of the receptor to the specific type of change or development proposed and the value associated to that receptor.

Significance

A measure of the importance or gravity of the environmental effect, defined by significance criteria specific to the environmental topic.

Significant Effects

It is a requirement of the EIA Regulations to determine the likely significant effects of the development on the environment which should relate to the level of an effect and the type of effect. The significance of an effect gives an indication as to the degree of importance (based on the magnitude of the effect and the sensitivity of the receptor) that should be attached to the impact described. Whether or not an effect should be considered significant is not absolute and requires the application of professional judgement. Significant – ‘noteworthy, of considerable amount or effect or importance, not insignificant or negligible’. The Concise Oxford Dictionary. Those levels and types of landscape and visual effect likely to have a major or important / noteworthy or special effect of which a decision maker should take particular note.

Susceptibility* Sustainability*

The ability of a defined landscape or visual receptor to accommodate the specific proposed development without undue negative consequences.

The principle that the environment should be protected in such a condition and to such a degree that ensures new development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.